The Effectiveness
Most patients report symptom-easing starts shortly after the first treatment. If you are feeling no immediate symptom relief, then this does not indicate the treatment is ineffective. After a few days, stressed tissue inflammation and symptoms should begin reducing as greater healing of damaged tissues begins to occur.
Do not stretch to loosen or try to strengthen injured joints. You should expect muscle structure to tighten in areas were it can support your injury. Stretching to fatigue and reduce the muscle tension will only aggravate and inflame tissues in the recovery process, and achieve short-term symptom relief which will actually be hindering the original objective.
Joint structure that is injured needs to heal and regain 'tone' before it can be work-hardened by strengthening activities. Whilst you have a joint injury, strengthening activity will only stress the injury and cause the supporting structure to work harder, fatigue and ache. It will be the ability of this supporting structure to cope that might provide some gain from strengthen activities but it is likely to be at the expense of healing the injury in the shortest time possible.
The second treatment, about 7 days after the first, is highly effective in most situations and especially where patients have been unable to rest but resumed some work or sporting activities. Approx. 85% of patients report good joint injury recovery shortly after the second treatment. If there is no improvement of the injury detected after two treatments, then the appropriateness of this treatment to the injury or the activities being maintained by the injured person will need further assessment.